Social Media

Kobo Looks to Social Reading to Distinguish It From Kindle

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When Borders-backed Kobo launched last December, it was joining a crowd of e-readers that had already aligned themselves with major booksellers. Amazon released its first-generation Kindle e-reader in November 2007, followed by Barnes & Nobles’s Nook in November 2009. Kobo wasn't available in the U.S. until May.

As a latecomer, the bookseller has held its own, accumulating 1.3 million registered users and growing from 10 to 170 employees in its first year.

Last week, the company launched its social app, making it the first of its competitors to provide a real-time social experience to its readers. The new app allows readers to check in to books, earn badges, and keeps track of their reading stats — and share all of these activities to their Facebook profiles.

CEO Mike Serbinis recently spoke with Mashable about Kobo's growth and the potential of social reading to differentiate the company from its growing list of competitors.

Gaining Customers With An Affordable Device

When Kobo launched its $150 product earlier this year, most e-readers in the market were selling for somewhere around $300. The strategy was to make the Kobo store accessible to people who wouldn't otherwise buy an expensive reader or tablet.

“[Selling an affordable e-reader] was always part of the strategy, but [also] knowing that our own delivery of an e-reader would be mostly about getting customers who, for now, want to use an e-reader rather than a tablet," Serbinis says. "We knew [the e-reader device] wouldn’t be forever, that it would be focused on getting those customers. So far, it seems like it’s working well beyond our expectations.”

Most of Kobo's customers read books on multiple devices, and, like the Kindle and Nook, the device has released apps that customers can use to purchase books on different platforms.

In other words, it's not the device that will continue to be important in the future, but content sales. Kobo helped give people a device that was more affordable than tablet and other e-reader options at the time, which — even though Amazon and Barnes and Noble quickly answered by dropping their own prices — was an effective way to gain new customers at launch.

Differentiating the E-Reading Experience

The price point of its e-reader is no longer a differentiator for Kobo, but the company is hoping that the new social reading component of its app might be. The component rolled out on the iPad app last week and is planned to launch on its iPhone, Blackberry, Android, and e-reader apps in the future.

It's the first serious step any of the major players have taken toward changing the actual reading experience (though Copia did launch a social reading platform last month). Readers can "check in" with specific characters and places in the books that they're reading and earn badges for activities like late-night reading, reading during rush hour, or finishing a book.

The new format also provides an opportunity for brands to partner with Kobo to offer rewards with badges. Reading in Starbucks three times could turn into a branded badge and a free small coffee, for instance.

Serbinis is confident that this kind of social interaction is where the future of reading is headed. "Anyone who is not moving in this direction is not going to be around next year at this time," he says.

His argument is that reading has always been social — that's what book clubs, lending, highlighting and conversations have always been.

Whether readers agree is yet to be determined but could pay off big time in Kobo's favor.

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Mashable
is a leading source for news, information and resources for the Connected Generation. Mashable reports on the importance of digital innovation and how it empowers and inspires people around the world. Mashable's record 42 million unique visitors worldwide and 21 million social media followers are one of the most influential and engaged online communities. Founded in 2005, Mashable is headquartered in New York City with an office in San Francisco.